System and method for managing vehicle charging stations

ABSTRACT

A system and method for managing vehicle charging stations such that when at least two of a plurality of electric vehicle charging stations (also known as electric vehicle service equipment, or EVSE) occupied with vehicles awaiting a charge, the present system manages the charging of individual vehicles in cases where the aggregated demand for charging exceeds the capacity of the circuits supplying the plurality of EVSE. By cycling so that only a few of the vehicles are charging at a time, the demand on the circuits is kept below a predetermined limit. In cases where a load shedding event is in progress, the limit can be further reduced. In cases where the cost of electricity is varying dynamically, the system considers a driver&#39;s explicit charging requirements (if any) and preferences for opportunistic charging when the price of electricity is not too high.

This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 17/480,162 filed Sep. 21,2021 which was a continuation of application Ser. No. 16/371,865 filedApr. 1, 2019, now U.S. Pat. No. 11,124,085 issued Sep. 21, 2021 whichwas a continuation of application Ser. No. 14/436,753 filed May 1, 2015,now U.S. Pat. No. 10,245,967 issued Apr. 2, 2019 which was a nationalphase entry from application PCT/USI3/65412 with international filingdate of Oct. 17, 2013 which claimed priority from U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application No. 61/715,856 filed Oct. 19, 2012 with internationalpriority date Oct. 19, 2012. Application Ser. No. 17/480,162, U.S. Pat.Nos. 11,124,085, 10,245,967, application PCT/USI3/65412 and application61/715,856 are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.

BACKGROUND Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to Electric Vehicle ServiceEquipment (EVSE) and more particularly to a system and method formanaging vehicle charging stations.

Description of the Prior Art

In most cases, a driver is not disposed to wait while an electricvehicle charges. A substantial portion of all vehicle charging willoccur while the vehicle is parked for an extended period of time. Largenumbers of electric vehicles will promote the installation of largebanks of electric vehicle service equipment (EVSE). EVSEs are commonlycalled “chargers”, even though this is not technically precise.

Even though large banks of EVSE are made available, and some or all ofthem might be occupied by an electric vehicle at a time, it can be thecase that the aggregate demand for charging of the vehicles may exceedthe amount of electric power available for use by the bank. This may bethe case, for example, if the operator of the bank (e.g., an employer)has chosen to place a limit on how much electricity is supplied to theemployees or guests in a building. Another example might find that theelectrical service is completely adequate to operate all of the EVSE atfull power, but during a load-shedding event, that capacity isartificially reduced by agreement between the power company and theoperator of the bank. In still another example, whether or not theelectrical service can support all the EVSE operating at full power, anoperator may choose to limit the peak draw from the mains, so as not beclassified as a certain kind of customer (i.e., one whose peak drawexceeds a particular value and under some tariffs can be charged higherrates for all power consumed). Prior art systems control multiple EVSEto mitigate peak demand, but do not consider the timing requirement ofindividual drivers as stipulated by their requirements or expressedwillingness to purchase additional electricity (i.e., charge) if theprice is sufficiently low. Additionally, a system should be fair, thatis, according to policy, it should operate in the short term on afirst-come, first-served basis, but in the longer term, whateverelectricity is available within the prescribed limits, should be madeavailable to those needing it, or who are otherwise willing to purchaseit. Individual preferences with respect to pricing should be respected,but an implementation should not differentially advantage ordisadvantage individual drivers with respect to availability ofelectricity when the price is particularly low: All drivers should haveequal (at least, statistically equal) access whenever the price issufficiently low.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a system for fairly managing a bank ofEVSEs that includes a controller having control over a group of EVSEs.The controller typically has a queue of requests for chargingcorresponding to at least some of the EVSEs in the bank. The controllerselects from among the requests in the queue and enables thecorresponding EVSEs such that the aggregate power draw of the enabledEVSEs does not exceed a first predetermined limit. The controllersubsequently disables the corresponding EVSEs and returns those requeststo the queue. The controller may have a detector for load sheddingevents, and in the case of a load shed event being detected, can furtherensure that the aggregate power draw of the enabled EVSEs does notexceed a second predetermined limit, where the second limit is less thanthe first limit. The controller further can have access to a price feedand user preferences indicating a minimum energy requirement andacceptable price for additional energy. In this case, the controller mayskip a corresponding request in the queue once the minimum energyrequirement has been met and while the price feed indicates a currentprice for electricity that exceeds the acceptable price.

DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

Attention is now directed to several drawings that illustrate featuresof the present invention:

FIG. 1 is a system block diagram for one example embodiment of theelectric vehicle charging system.

FIG. 2 is a system block diagram for a different embodiment, electricvehicle charging system.

FIG. 3 is an embodiment of an energy price file containing electricityprices as projected over several intervals in the near future.

FIGS. 4A-4B together, show one example embodiment of a usage report filecontaining records of EVSE use authorized to the accounts of individualusers, tracking when and how much electricity was used, and at whatprice.

FIG. 5 shows the progression of a queue or five vehicles plugged intofive corresponding EVSEs.

FIG. 6 shows a flowchart for an EVSE management process of adding avehicle at an EVSE to the queue.

FIG. 7 shows a flowchart for an example EVSE management process toperiodically to reassign the charging status on the basis of the queue,user preferences, the price of electricity, or call for a load shedevent.

FIG. 8 shows a flowchart for an example EVSE management process for whena vehicle is no longer accepting a charge (i.e., it is full, or has beenunplugged and driven off), or a load-shed event is concluded.

FIG. 9 shows a flowchart for another EVSE management process formanaging a bank of EVSEs.

FIG. 10 shows an example user interface for an application that can runon mobile smartphone or other device to provide preferences to an EVSEmanagement system.

Several drawings have been presented to aid in understanding the presentinvention. The scope of the present invention is not limited to what isshown in the figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 is a system block diagram for one example embodiment of theelectric vehicle charging system 100, in which three EVSE are shown tobe managed by controller 110. User 122 offers identification 123, whichmay be read by a reader (not shown) in proximity to each EVSE, orcentrally located, e.g., near controller 110. Alternatively, theidentification may be a code entered by the user onto a keypad (notshown in FIG. 1 ). The keypad entry or identification read istransmitted to the controller 110 by keypad/ID reader signal 127. Thesystem has access to a user's preferences (e.g., how much electricity heis willing to buy at what price), which may be stored in a database 115.Current electricity rates are supplied to the controller, and usage isstored. Only occasional connection to remote databases are required,which may be by connections 113, 116, which may comprise the Internet114; or may be achieved by other mechanisms (e.g., a “data mule”technique). The controller monitors and manages each EVSE, e.g., 120with control line 125, usage monitor line 126.

Several implementations of control line 125 are possible. Line 125 couldbe the power line to EVSE 120, in which case controller 110 comprisesthe contactors or solid-state relays to open and close the power circuitfor EVSE 120. Alternatively, line 125 could control the coil of a relayor contactor at or inside of EVSE 120, causing the power to switchremotely. In still another embodiment, some EVSE provide an ‘inhibit’input, for example as might be used to accept a load shedding signal,and would cause the EVSE to respond by activating or releasing its owncontactor or other power control circuits. And still another embodimentwould have control 125 managing the communication between the vehicle121 and EVSE 120. Typically, the connection from an EVSE to electricvehicle uses a standard interface, e.g., the Society of AutomotiveEngineers J1772 connector and signaling standard, which defines, amongother things, a pilot signal. Control 125 might cause this pilot signalto be interrupted (or connected), which would cause vehicle 121 to stop(or start) drawing power.

Several implementations of monitor 126 are possible. In someembodiments, the EVSE 120 may have a metering capability that can bereported to controller 110 by serial communication (e.g., RS-232) orother standard. A current meter may be placed around the power feeds toEVSE 120 and monitored by controller 110. Such a current meter may bethreshold based, i.e., indicating whether or not a vehicle is drawing inexcess of Level I (a ISA draw), or may be linear (i.e., read out exactlyhow much current is being drawn). In still other embodiments, a true RMSpower meter may be used, revenue grade or otherwise, at each EVSE, or asingle one in the controller 110. If more than one EVSE is to beoperating simultaneously, an observation could be made as each EVSE isactivated, to determine the incremental power draw by each vehicle. Thetotal power draw of each vehicle could be interpolated from theincremental power draw observed as each EVSE is turned on and laterturned off, over the repeating cycles, as discussed below.

FIG. 2 is a system block diagram for a different example embodiment,electric vehicle charging system 200. Here, a mobile device 280 may setor access the subscribing user's account preferences (locally orremotely) and may consolidate those into an access code representing notonly the user's account identification, but optionally also thepreferences for energy requirements and optional further energypurchase. An example user interface for such a device is shown in FIG.10 . The access code so generated may be a rolling code, valid only fora particular interval of time, or may be static. The access code may bedisplayed for the user to enter into keypad 211 on controller 210 ofbank 220 comprising EVSEs 221-224. In an alternative embodiment, theaccess code may be presented to the controller 210 via Bluetooth™, as abarcode (where controller 210 has a corresponding camera or reader),etc. Controller 210 may have wireless communication (e.g., through GPRScommunications 250), or may be wired to achieve network communication,or use another techniques (e.g., “data mule”) for obtaining pricesand/or reporting status and usage.

FIG. 3 is one example embodiment of an energy price file 300 containingelectricity prices as projected over several intervals in the nearfuture (e.g., for the next hour in 15-minute intervals) as might beprovided by rate servers 112 and 230.

FIGS. 4A and 4B, together, show one example embodiment of a usage reportfile 400 containing records of EVSE use authorized to the accounts ofindividual users, tracking when and how much electricity was used, andat what price.

FIG. 5 shows the progression of a queue, in this example for fivevehicles plugged into five corresponding EVSEs. In queue state 500, theleast recently served vehicle (i.e., vehicle having waited the longestfor a turn to charge) is in the first row 511. Some of the vehicles(those corresponding to rows 511, 513, 514) are known to charge only atLevel I (i.e., at not more than 15 A), whether because of EVSElimitation, user preference, or vehicle status. One vehicle,corresponding to row 512, is known to charge at Level 2 (i.e., up to 30A), which must be supported by the vehicle, the EVSE, and be acceptableto the user's preferences. If, according to a particular limitation(which may be a technical limit or one of policy), at most two vehiclesmay charge simultaneously at Level 1, or a single vehicle at level 2,then given the queue state 500, the EVSEs of rows 511 and 513 may beselected for charging. The policy used here gives the head of the queue(row 511) priority, and since row 511 is known to run at Li, there iscapacity available for another Li vehicle. However, the next row 512 isL2, and would exceed the aggregate limit, so the next LI vehicle (foundin row 513), if any, is selected. Some time later (e.g., after a 10 or20 minute interval), a new turn or cycle may begin, however, queue state520 is now the case, with the just-charging EVSEs in rows 524, 525 nowmoved to the end of the list. At 520, the head of the queue in row 521is an L2, and is the only vehicle that can charge for the next interval.At 530, EVSE 02 has been moved to the tail of the queue, having justcharged, and rows 523 and 524 have percolated to the head of the queue.Insofar as EVSE 05 has a new vehicle whose charge rate is not yetestablished, were row 522 to be sent to the head of the queue at LI, itwould be a risky move to allow EVSE 05 (row 523) to attempt chargingwithout determining the vehicle charge capacity: If the new vehicleturns out be Li, great, but if L2, the system has exceeded the desiredlimit. But if EVSE 05 were skipped over (and left unknown), EVSE 01would get a second charging turn before EVSE 05 had a first turn. Inthis circumstance, the two rows at the head of the queue are switched,and charging begins first on row 531 (EVSE 05, with the new vehicle). Ifthe demand is light, i.e., L1, then row 532 can be activated, and thetwo can charge together. However if EVSE 05 were determined to be L2,then, depending upon policy, either it could be allowed to finish acycle alone (since, in this configuration, L2 must charge alone), or itcould be halted, returned to the second position in the queue, and EVSEs04 and 01 allowed to charge, with EVSE 05 charging on the next cycle.Once EVSEs 05 & 04 (rows 531, 532) have charged a turn, the queue state540 has come around, and EVSE 01 (row 541) is back at the top.

In some embodiments, each time an entry in the queue gets passed overand a later entry in the queue is allowed to charge instead, a count maybe accumulated that extends the charge duration when the passed overentry can charge. Other mechanisms may be implemented to enhance the‘fairness’ of the queue, yet still maintain a good use of the capacity.

With respect to FIG. 5 , for simplicity, the discussion has been interms of Level 1 and Level 2 charging, to illustrate a simple rule.However, if the system provides greater precision in monitoring, forexample if actual currents are measured and provided to controller 110,the system could operate with a current-based constraint, e.g., do notexceed an aggregate draw of 40A. This way, for example in an employeeparking lot, where the electric vehicles are all parked and plugged intothe EVSEs for many hours, toward the end of the day, each of thevehicles might only be drawing a few amps and it could be the case thatmore than just two vehicles could be charging and still not exceed the40 A limit. Alternatively, readings from a true RMS power meter could beused, as discussed in conjunction with FIG. 1 .

FIG. 6 shows a flowchart for one example EVSE management process 600 ofadding a vehicle at an EVSE to the queue. Upon being accepted, thevehicle is inserted at the tail of the queue. The management process 600begins at 601, where charging is requested for a vehicle connected toone EVSE of a bank of EVSEs. At step 602, an identification (e.g., anaccount ID) or an access code is accepted. A determination is made atstep 603 as to whether the identification or access code is valid. Ifnot, the process loops back to step 602, but if it is valid, then theprocess continues at step 604, where charging preferences aredetermined, e.g., looked up in account preferences database ii 5 usingeither the identification or an identification represented in the code,or in an other embodiments, a preference represented by the code. Atstep 605, for this embodiment, the vehicle is placed at the tail of thequeue 61 i of vehicles having the least recent service, at which pointthe management process 600 concludes at step 606 with the vehicle at theEVSE awaiting its now-pending turn to charge.

FIG. 7 shows a flowchart for one example EVSE management process 700 toperiodically to reassign the charging status on the basis of the queue,user preferences, the price of electricity, or call for a load shedevent. In this example, management process 700 begins at step 701periodically (e.g., according to policy, such as to cycle every 20minutes), but further may be initiated upon the start of a load-shedevent. At step 702 a determination is made as to whether any EVSEs inthe managed bank are active. If no, processing continues at step 705,but other wise, at step 703 charging is halted at the active EVSEs andthe usage by the corresponding attached vehicles is recorded in usagedatabase 612. At step 704, the vehicles having just been serviced aremoved to the end of the queue 611 if they received less than one-half ofa cycle (e.g., less than iO minutes of charging when the cycle time is20 minutes). As this is merely a policy, a different fraction or anamount of energy might be chosen instead, without departing from theteaching: For example, this would apply to vehicles whose turn in thequeue had come up, but had been interrupted by a load-shed event.

At step 705, the vehicle at the head of the queue 611 is selected. Adetermination is made at step 706 as to whether this vehicle has anamount of charge required (from the preferences determined at step 604),regardless of price, and if so, processing proceeds to step 709 with theEVSE corresponding to the vehicle being one of those designated asselected. However, if the preferences associated with the vehicle atstep 604 do not specify an amount of charging required regardless ofprice, then at step 707 a determination is made as to whether thepreferences would accept energy if the current price, e.g., from pricedatabase 613 were acceptable, and if so, then the process proceeds tostep 709, again with the EVSE being selected. However, if at 707 theprice for charging is too high, or if the preferences do not allow foradditional energy purchase, then at step 708, the vehicle is moved tothe end of the queue 611, and its turn is passed. In this way, vehiclesare provided with relatively equal access to energy when the price islower, but are still able to obtain a charge by a required amount ofenergy if demanded by the preferences.

At step 709, if more capacity is available (including consideration forthe current load-shed state 714) than is currently reserved for thealready selected vehicles, then at step 710, the next vehicle having acharging rate that will not exceed the remaining capacity is pulled fromthe queue 6 i 1 and the associated preferences examined beginning atstep 706. In this way, as much of the available capacity is allocated,while maintaining a fair access policy and not exceeding predeterminedpower limits. At step 7 i 1, the selected vehicle or vehicles begincharging from their respective EVSEs and management process 700concludes at step 712 with charging in progress.

FIG. 8 shows a flowchart for one example EVSE management process 800 forwhen a vehicle is no longer accepting a charge (i.e., it is full, or hasbeen unplugged and driven off), or a load-shed event is concluded.Management process 800 is generally similar to process 700, but istriggered by more capacity asynchronously becoming available, either bya vehicle no longer accepting a charge at step 801, or by the conclusionof a load-shed event 820. When a vehicle ceases to accept a charge at8011 e.g., because it has been unplugged or because its battery is fullycharged, then at step 802 the corresponding EVSE is stopped, the usagerecorded in usage database 612, in association with the identifieracquired at step 602, and at step 803, the vehicle and its correspondingEVSE are removed from the queue 611. At step 804, a selection is madefrom the queue for the next vehicle and corresponding EVSE whosecharging characteristics are within the remaining capacity. Steps 806,807, 808, 809, 8 i 0, 811, and 8 i 2 are the same as steps 706, 707,708, 709, 710, 711, and 712, respectively.

When a load-shed event is over at step 820, processing continues at step809, where a determination is made at 809 as to whether more capacity isavailable. As load-shed state 714 has just changed to indicate noon-going load-shed event, the permitted capacity is greater than whenlimited during a load-shed event, and as such processing will continueat 810, as above, to select the next vehicles in queue for charging withthe unused capacity.

FIG. 9 shows a flowchart for another example EVSE management process 900for managing a bank of EVSEs, starting at 801 wherein at step 802process 900 accepts vehicles connecting to the EVSEs of a bank of EVSEs,(e.g., EVSEs 120, 130, 140, as managed by controller 110; or EVSEs221-224 managed by controller 210) and enters them into the chargingqueue. At step 803, vehicles are selected from the queue according toone or more of charging demand, electricity price, buyer preferences,aggregate charging capacity, and a policy for fairness and utilization.At 804, the EVSEs corresponding to vehicles selected from the queue arecharged. The process 900 concludes at 806 with the selected vehiclescharging.

FIG. 10 shows one example user interface 1020 for an application thatcan run on mobile smartphone 1000 or other device to provide preferencesto the EVSE management system (e.g., 110, 210) allowing the setting ofcharge requirements 1021 (e.g., as an amount of energy and/or as a rangeof travel for the particular vehicle) by a particular time 1022, and aselection to accept additional charging (up to the battery's limit),while the price is not greater than a particular value 1023. In thisembodiment, these preferences can be rendered as a code for entry intokeypad 211 by pressing button 1024, or in other embodiments, thepreferences could be transmitted to server/database 115 or 270, renderedas a barcode readable by the EVSE management system, or sent to the EVSEmanagement system wirelessly (e.g., via Bluetooth). Other functionsoffered by the UI may include additional account management 1013,information about the app or currently location 1012, and directions toa nearby EVSE 1011.

Several descriptions and illustrations have been presented to aid inunderstanding the present invention. One skilled in the art willunderstand that numerous changes and variations may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention. Each of these changes andvariations is within the scope of the present invention.

We claim:
 1. A system for fairly managing a bank of EVSEs comprising: acontroller, the controller having control over a plurality of EVSEs, thecontroller having a queue of requests for charging corresponding to atleast some of the EVSEs in the bank, the controller selecting from amongthe requests in the queue and enabling corresponding EVSEs such thataggregate power draw of enabled EVSEs does not exceed a firstpredetermined limit, the controller subsequently disabling thecorresponding EVSEs and returning requests relating to the correspondingEVSEs to the queue.